I've been watching a lot of The Great British Baking Show, so I thought I knew a bit about puff pastry. Then I watched Episode 5 of The Imagineering Story. Lots of interesting choices and claims in this one:
On DCA 2.0:
-Iger on redeveloping DCA: "The proposal that they made to me creatively was...big risk, big change" **pans to redesigned MGM-aping turnstyles instead of something original**
-Midway Mania is getting a disproportionate amount of hype and screentime for its quality.
-"For balance, Paradise Pier received a nostalgic overlay of classic characters." Well, that comment didn't age well...
On Cars Land:
-"I have so many memories of cars growing up." So naturally, it's much more logical to pivot to DisneyPixar's Cars than actual classic cars. $$$ baby!
-"But an unexpected detour occured when the Imagineers found out Pixar was producing a movie about cars." Guys. You JUST showed us footage of the proposal in 2007. Cars came out in 2006. Let's not be intentionally misleading.
-I enjoyed the "Insightful" commentary from Iger looking at the Cars Land model.
On Things That Involve Kim Irvine:
-Why are we talking about HMH now? It was neither the first overlay, nor was it introduced during Iger's time. The only reason can be to reinstate the IP-trumps-all narrative that Iger loves so much. "Not to mention, it was only temporary. Fans could rest in peace." Disney wishes death upon their fans, news at eleven!
-"See, descrating Walt classics isn't that bad! Just trust us"-paraphrasing Kim Irvine. No Kim, we will not just trust you. Sorry.
-Marty Sklar on adding characters to Small World: "We are not this classic attraction into a marketing pitch for Disney plush toys. The opposite is true...we want the message of goodwill and brotherhood to resonate among young people." That's a pretty damning indictment of young people if they can't believe in the benefit of international cooperation without their favorite Disney characters leading them by the hand.
Questionable Claims Corner:
-I thought people of all ages liked Disney parks just fine. Apparently though it wasn't until Iger bought Marvel and Lucasfilm that adults realized it was ok for adults to like the parks too. The More You Know!
-Bob Iger decided to expand Hong Kong Disneyland all by himself apparently.
On Ratatouille:
-Ratatouille is introduced as being akin to a modern day Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, which seems to prove that Tom Fitzgerald has never actually ridden Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.
-Only after the film shows Ratatouille (and implies that it's revolutionary by showing the work of programming it, etc. despite showing Mystic Manor earlier in the same episode with no mention of Hunny Hunt, both of which used the same technology before and better than Rat) does it say that Disneyland Paris became the number one tourist destination in Europe. It actually became the number one tourist destination in Europe in the nineties. To imply that that only happened because of Ratatouille is horrific. Also, if Ratatouille re-inforced that customization to fit a culture breeds success, then why was DCA such a flop? You might be contradicting yourself, documentary...
Was everything negative? No. Despite my snarking about it above, the Cars Land and DCA revitalization segments were relatively honest and well done. The Mystic Manor segment was appreciated and informative. The segment on the 2011 earthquake was sobering but reassuring in a way that did not feel like pandering. But the bad overwhelmed the good in a massive way. On to Episode 6!